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Custody and Mobility: The Law

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A well-known axiom of Family Law is that following parental separation
the children of the relationship generally need a continuing, close
contact with both parents in order to ensure their good psychological
health.' Accordingly, when one parent has sole custody of the child, good
and frequent access to the other parent is normally seen as being of vital
importance. However in an era of increased mobility, attributable in part
to the quest for employment opportunities, it is not uncommon for the
custodial parent to seek to move towns or countries. In such situations a
Court is confronted with the difficult task of determining whether the
benefits of access are so compelling in the particular case that the wish of
the custodial parent to move must be denied.
In New Zealand, as in Australia, Canada, and England, issues on custody
and access are controlled by the paramountcy principle, albeit in slightly
differing forms, and any decision is inevitably particularised and dependent
on its own facts. Nonetheless, a study of the cases from the various
jurisdictions does reveal the emergence of some general trends and principles,
and this article aims to isolate and analyse those trends.

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Field of Research::18 - Law and Legal Studies::1801 - Law::180113 - Family Law